My Pages On Different Subjects which Hyperlinked to all my Blog Posts

Saturday, 10 May 2014

Doesn’t
get more eco-friendly than this! In a world’s first researchers used sunlight,
water and carbon dioxide to make 'green' jet fuel. European scientists
simulated concentrated sunlight at a temperature of 700 degrees Celsius to
convert water and carbon dioxide into a gas known as syngas, which is made out
of hydrogen and carbon monoxide.Syngas is then turned into liquid kerosene,
which is used to power buses and other forms of transport.

Maire
Geoghegan-Quinn, European commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science,
said to Chemistry World: “This technology means we might one day produce
cleaner and plentiful fuel for planes, cars and other forms of transport. This
could greatly increase energy security and turn one of the main greenhouse
gases responsible for global warming into a useful resource."Although the
technology is still in its infancy (the researchers only produced enough
kerosene to fill a small glass jar), scientists estimate that a full-scale
solar reactor could produce 20,000 litres of jet fuel per day.

2)
Spanish, Japanese centenarians reveal genetic key to longevity:

The genes
of 894 men and women over the age of one hundred in Spain and Japan have
revealed that the secret to longevity, at least in southern Europe, lies in a
variant on chromosome 9p21.3, which had already been associated with the risk
of cardiovascular disease. Centenarians live at least fifteen years longer than
the average person in the West. This exceptional longevity is partially
genetic, and it appears that there are a number of gene variants that may hold
the key to a healthy old age life.

The genes
of 894 men and women over the age of one hundred in Spain and Japan have
revealed that the secret to longevity, at least in southern Europe, lies in a
variant on chromosome 9p21.3, which had already been associated with the risk
of cardiovascular disease.Centenarians live at least fifteen years longer than
the average person in the West. This exceptional longevity is partially
genetic.There are a number of gene variants that may hold the key to a healthy
old age life. For example, a polymorphism (that is, a particular sequence
variation in the DNA among individuals from a particular population) called
rs1333049 on chromosome 9p21.3 is related to chronic ailments associated with
aging, mainly with cardiovascular diseases.The C allele is the copy of this
gene that carries the greatest risk. In order to find out whether this
polymorphism is also associated with extreme longevity, Spanish researchers
performed an analysis of the frequencies of this polymorphism among
centenarians and healthy adults in two independent cohorts, by geographical
regions and by ethnic groups.The study included 152 Spaniards aged between 110
and 111 years and 742 Japanese people aged between 100 and 115 years. The
results have been published in the journal Age.

"This
variant may be associated with extreme longevity, particularly among the
Spanish population," Alejandro Lucía, the main author and researcher at
the European University and also a member of the Hospital 12 de Octubre
Research Institute, told SINC. "The study also revealed that the risk
allele reduces the possibilities of reaching one hundred years of age."The
frequency of the risk C variant in Spanish people over the age of one hundred
was 47.0%, lower than in healthy people that were taken as a control sample in
the study (52.9%) and individuals with cardiovascular disease (55.1%).Significant
differences were also discovered between the centenarians and the two control
groups when their genotype frequencies were compared, in other words, the
proportion of individuals with a specific gene sequence.The results were
different in the Japanese group. Among the Japanese participants, the risk gene
variant had a similar frequency in centenarians (46.4%) and in healthy controls
(47.3%), but it was less frequent than in controls performed with
cardiovascular disease (57.2%).Although the biological mechanisms through which
this polymorphism could affect aging are not known, it is adjacent to two genes
called CDKN2A and CDKN2B, which play an important role in cell cycle
regulation."In fact, the CDKN2A takes part in the p53 signalling pathway,
one of the most important ones in the cell senescence regulation," adds
Lucía.

Healthy
aging model"

People
aged one hundred years or over are not only the peak of the population
pyramid," says Lucía. "They also represent a healthy aging model
given that they have delayed, and sometimes even avoided, chronic illnesses
that come with age and loss of independence and they tend to be just as health
as nonagenarians."

This is
why the authors believe it is important to know the genetic or environmental
factors that condition the possibilities of reaching this age.

Although
more research is required, the information obtained from this study coincides
with others published recently on the Mediterranean population of the north of
Italy, "therefore the effect of this gene seems to exist in southern
Europe at least," concluded the researcher.

3) Young
blood proven good for old brain:

Plasma
component restores some of youth’s vibrancy to elderly mice. Vampires knew it
all along, but now scientists have discovered that young blood can keep an old
brain sharp. Plasma or blood from a young mouse — or even a single protein from
plasma — rejuvenates sluggish bodies and minds in a host of ways, three new
studies find.

Throughout
the ages, people have searched far and wide for an elixir that replenishes the
body. “Maybe they were just looking too far,” says Tony Wyss-Coray of Stanford
University School of Medicine, coauthor of a May 4 study in Nature Medicine.

Young
blood recharges old neurons, improving mice’s ability to learn and remember
things, Wyss-Coray and colleagues found. Two other papers, appearing May 4 in
Science, identified a particular ingredient in young blood that improves both
brain and muscles.

4)
Astronomers create first realistic virtual universe:

Move
over, Matrix -- astronomers have done you one better. They have created the
first realistic virtual universe using a computer simulation called
"Illustris." Illustris can recreate 13 billion years of cosmic
evolution in a cube 350 million light-years on a side with unprecedented
resolution. "Until now, no single simulation was able to reproduce the
universe on both large and small scales simultaneously," says lead author
Mark Vogelsberger (MIT/Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), who
conducted the work in collaboration with researchers at several institutions,
including the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies in Germany.

These
results are being reported in the May 8th issue of the journal Nature.Previous
attempts to simulate the universe were hampered by lack of computing power and
the complexities of the underlying physics. As a result those programs either
were limited in resolution, or forced to focus on a small portion of the
universe. Earlier simulations also had trouble modeling complex feedback from
star formation, supernova explosions, and supermassive black holes.

Illustris
employs a sophisticated computer program to recreate the evolution of the
universe in high fidelity. It includes both normal matter and dark matter using
12 billion 3-D "pixels," or resolution elements.The team dedicated
five years to developing the Illustris program. The actual calculations took 3
months of "run time," using a total of 8,000 CPUs running in
parallel. If they had used an average desktop computer, the calculations would
have taken more than 2,000 years to complete.

The
computer simulation began a mere 12 million years after the Big Bang. When it
reached the present day, astronomers counted more than 41,000 galaxies in the
cube of simulated space. Importantly, Illustris yielded a realistic mix of
spiral galaxies like the Milky Way and football-shaped elliptical galaxies. It
also recreated large-scale structures like galaxy clusters and the bubbles and
voids of the cosmic web. On the small scale, it accurately recreated the
chemistries of individual galaxies.Since light travels at a fixed speed, the
farther away astronomers look, the farther back in time they can see. A galaxy
one billion light-years away is seen as it was a billion years ago. Telescopes
like Hubble can give us views of the early universe by looking to greater
distances. However, astronomers can't use Hubble to follow the evolution of a
single galaxy over time.

"Illustris
is like a time machine. We can go forward and backward in time. We can pause
the simulation and zoom into a single galaxy or galaxy cluster to see what's
really going on," says co-author Shy Genel of the CfA.

5)
Scientists create first living organism that transmits added letters in DNA
'alphabet':

Scientists
at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have engineered a bacterium whose
genetic material includes an added pair of DNA "letters," or bases,
not found in nature. The cells of this unique bacterium can replicate the
unnatural DNA bases more or less normally, for as long as the molecular
building blocks are supplied. "Life on Earth in all its diversity is
encoded by only two pairs of DNA bases, A-T and C-G, and what we've made is an
organism that stably contains those two plus a third, unnatural pair of bases,"
said TSRI Associate Professor Floyd E. Romesberg, who led the research team.
"This shows that other solutions to storing information are possible and,
of course, takes us closer to an expanded-DNA biology that will have many
exciting applications -- from new medicines to new kinds of
nanotechnology."

The
report on the achievement appears May 7, 2014, in an advance online publication
of the journal Nature.

Many
Challenges

Romesberg
and his laboratory have been working since the late 1990s to find pairs of
molecules that could serve as new, functional DNA bases -- and, in principle,
could code for proteins and organisms that have never existed before.The task
hasn't been a simple one. Any functional new pair of DNA bases would have to
bind with an affinity comparable to that of the natural nucleoside base-pairs
adenine-thymine and cytosine-guanine. Such new bases also would have to line up
stably alongside the natural bases in a zipper-like stretch of DNA. They would
be required to unzip and re-zip smoothly when worked on by natural polymerase
enzymes during DNA replication and transcription into RNA. And somehow these
nucleoside interlopers would have to avoid being attacked and removed by
natural DNA-repair mechanisms.

Despite
these challenges, by 2008 Romesberg and his colleagues had taken a big step
towards this goal; in a study published that year, they identified sets of
nucleoside molecules that can hook up across a double-strand of DNA almost as
snugly as natural base pairs and showed that DNA containing these unnatural
base pairs can replicate in the presence of the right enzymes. In a study that
came out the following year, the researchers were able to find enzymes that
transcribe this semi-synthetic DNA into RNA.

But this
work was conducted in the simplified milieu of a test tube. "These
unnatural base pairs have worked beautifully in vitro, but the big challenge
has been to get them working in the much more complex environment of a living
cell," said Denis A. Malyshev, a member of the Romesberg laboratory who
was lead author of the new report.

Microalgae
Lead to Breakthrough

In the
new study, the team synthesized a stretch of circular DNA known as a plasmid
and inserted it into cells of the common bacterium E. coli. The plasmid DNA
contained natural T-A and C-G base pairs along with the best-performing
unnatural base pair Romesberg's laboratory had discovered, two molecules known
as d5SICS and dNaM. The goal was to get the E. coli cells to replicate this
semi-synthetic DNA as normally as possible.The greatest hurdle may be
reassuring to those who fear the uncontrolled release of a new life form: the
molecular building blocks for d5SICS and dNaM are not naturally in cells. Thus,
to get the E. coli to replicate the DNA containing these unnatural bases, the
researchers had to supply the molecular building blocks artificially, by adding
them to the fluid solution outside the cell. Then, to get the building blocks,
known as nucleoside triphosphates, into the cells, they had to find special
triphosphate transporter molecules that would do the job.The researchers
eventually were able to find a triphosphate transporter, made by a species of
microalgae, that was good enough at importing the unnatural triphosphates.
"That was a big breakthrough for us -- an enabling breakthrough,"
said Malyshev.

Though
the completion of the project took another year, no hurdles that large arose
again. The team found, somewhat to their surprise, that the semi-synthetic
plasmid replicated with reasonable speed and accuracy, did not greatly hamper
the growth of the E. coli cells, and showed no sign of losing its unnatural
base pairs to DNA repair mechanisms."When we stopped the flow of the
unnatural triphosphate building blocks into the cells, the replacement of
d5SICS-dNaM with natural base pairs was very nicely correlated with the cell
replication itself -- there didn't seem to be other factors excising the
unnatural base pairs from the DNA," Malyshev said. "An important
thing to note is that these two breakthroughs also provide control over the
system. Our new bases can only get into the cell if we turn on the 'base
transporter' protein. Without this transporter or when new bases are not
provided, the cell will revert back to A, T, G, C, and the d5SICS and dNaM will
disappear from the genome."The next step will be to demonstrate the
in-cell transcription of the new, expanded-alphabet DNA into the RNA that feeds
the protein-making machinery of cells. "In principle, we could encode new
proteins made from new, unnatural amino acids -- which would give us greater power
than ever to tailor protein therapeutics and diagnostics and laboratory
reagents to have desired functions," Romesberg said. "Other
applications, such as nanomaterials, are also possible."

6) Stem
cells from teeth can make brain-like cells:

University
of Adelaide researchers have discovered that stem cells taken from teeth can
grow to resemble brain cells, suggesting they could one day be used in the
brain as a therapy for stroke. In the University's Centre for Stem Cell
Research, laboratory studies have shown that stem cells from teeth can develop
and form complex networks of brain-like cells. Although these cells haven't
developed into fully fledged neurons, researchers believe it's just a matter of
time and the right conditions for it to happen.

"Stem
cells from teeth have great potential to grow into new brain or nerve cells,
and this could potentially assist with treatments of brain disorders, such as
stroke," says Dr Kylie Ellis, Commercial Development Manager with the
University's commercial arm, Adelaide Research & Innovation (ARI).Dr Ellis
conducted this research as part of her Physiology PhD studies at the
University, before making the step into commercialisation. The results of her
work have been published in the journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy."The
reality is, treatment options available to the thousands of stroke patients
every year are limited," Dr Ellis says. "The primary drug treatment
available must be administered within hours of a stroke and many people don't
have access within that timeframe, because they often can't seek help for some
time after the attack."Ultimately, we want to be able to use a patient's
own stem cells for tailor-made brain therapy that doesn't have the host
rejection issues commonly associated with cell-based therapies. Another
advantage is that dental pulp stem cell therapy may provide a treatment option
available months or even years after the stroke has occurred," she says.

Dr Ellis
and her colleagues, Professors Simon Koblar, David O'Carroll and Stan Gronthos,
have been working on a laboratory-based model for actual treatment in humans.
As part of this research Dr Ellis found that stem cells derived from teeth
developed into cells that closely resembled neurons.

"We
can do this by providing an environment for the cells that is as close to a
normal brain environment as possible, so that instead of becoming cells for
teeth they become brain cells," Dr Ellis says."What we developed
wasn't identical to normal neurons, but the new cells shared very similar
properties to neurons. They also formed complex networks and communicated
through simple electrical activity, like you might see between cells in the
developing brain."This work with dental pulp stem cells opens up the
potential for modelling many more common brain disorders in the laboratory,
which could help in developing new treatments and techniques for patients.

Based on
the true crime book, Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three by
Mara Leveritt, Devil's Knot tells the compelling story of three teenagers
accused of the brutal 1993 murder of three 8-year old boys in Memphis, Ark. -
two of them sentenced to life imprisonment and one to death. The film explores
the lives of deeply misunderstood outsiders, their families and communities,
and their darkest fantasies. The conviction of the West Memphis Three - Damien
Echols, Jesse Misskelley, Jr., and Jason Baldwin - riled the American justice
system, shocked a tightly knit religious town and outraged the nation.

When Chef
Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) suddenly quits his job at a prominent Los Angeles
restaurant after refusing to compromise his creative integrity for its
controlling owner (Dustin Hoffman), he is left to figure out what’s next.
Finding himself in Miami, he teams up with his ex-wife (Sofia Vergara), his
friend (John Leguizamo) and his son to launch a food truck. Taking to the road,
Chef Carl goes back to his roots to reignite his passion for the kitchen -- and
zest for life and love.

All
Allyson and her friends want is a peaceful, grown-up evening of dinner and
conversation . . . a long-needed moms' night out. But in order to enjoy high
heels, adult conversation and food not served in a bag, they need their
husbands to watch the kids for a few hours-what could go wrong? Moms' Night Out
is an endearing, true-to-life family comedy.

Legends
of Oz: Dorothy's Return is a 3D-animated musical based on the adventure books
by Roger S. Baum, the great-grandson of L. Frank Baum. A continuation of one of
the world’s most popular and beloved fairy tales, Legends of Oz finds Dorothy
(Lea Michele) waking to post-tornado Kansas, only to be whisked back to Oz to
try to save her old friends the Scarecrow (Dan Aykroyd), the Lion (Jim
Belushi), the Tin Man (Kelsey Grammer) and Glinda (Bernadette Peters) from a
devious new villain, the Jester (Martin Short). Wiser the owl (Oliver Platt),
Marshal Mallow (Hugh Dancy), China Princess (Megan Hilty) and Tugg the tugboat
(Patrick Stewart) join Dorothy on her latest magical journey through the
colorful landscape of Oz to restore order and happiness to Emerald City. Set to
the tunes of Academy Award-nominated singer/songwriter Bryan Adams, Legends of
Oz marks a charming, family-friendly return to the Oz franchise.

Starry-eyed
teenager Camilla Swanson wants to follow in her mother's footsteps and become a
Broadway diva, but she's stuck working in the kitchen of a snobby performing
arts camp. Determined to change her destiny, she sneaks in to audition for the
summer showcase and lands a lead role in the play, but just as rehearsals
begin, blood starts to spill, and Camilla soon finds herself terrified by the
horror of musical theatre.

Political
News This week:

1) LS
polls: High turnout in 8th phase, 81% voting in West Bengal; 76% in Seemandhra:

High
polling was on Wednesday registered in the penultimate phase of Lok Sabha
elections in 64 constituencies in a high-stake battle where the fate of 1,737
candidates including Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, his cousin Varun,
Ram Vilas Paswan and Rabri Devi, were decided. One person was killed when
police opened fire outside a polling booth in Bihar's Sitamarhi district in a
bid to prevent its capture.

The
highest turnout in the 8th phase was 81.28 per cent in the six seats in West
Bengal, which Trinamool Congress is trying to wrest from Left Front, followed
by 76 per cent in Seemandhra, where voters chose 25 representatives to Lok
Sabha and 175 members of the proposed assembly simultaneously. Two key
battleground states Bihar, where seven constituencies went to poll today, and
Uttar Pradesh, where 15 seats were up for grab, recorded impressive voters'
turnout of 58 per cent and 55.52 per cent.

Congress
hopes to retain as much ground as possible in today's phase covering central UP
in the face of a strong surge by BJP, playing the caste and religion cards, and
a desperate BSP and SP seeking to hold on to their Muslim-OBC-Dalit vote
base.After today's phase, voting has been completed in 502 of the total of 543
constituencies and the remaining 41 seats will go to polls in the last round on
May 12. The talking point today was Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, where Rahul Gandhi
is contesting for the third time in a row, as a 55.2 per cent polling was
recorded.

Rahul,
who has represented the seat since 2004, for the first time toured polling
booths in Amethi on the voting day, apparently in the face of a tough challenge
posed by his rivals Smriti Irani of BJP and Kumar Vishwas of Aam Aadmi Party.
Modi had made an aggressive campaign in Amethi, the bastion of Gandhi family
for more than three decades, on the last day of electioneering for the 8th
phase on April 5. In neighbouring Sultanpur constituency, where Rahul's cousin
and BJP's Varun Gandhi is in fray, 57.2 per cent voters cast their votes.
Barring sporadic clashes between workers of YSR Congress Party and TDP and
alleged attacks on policemen in Rayalaseema districts, polling has been largely
peaceful for the 175 assembly and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in Seemandhra
where Congress is battling hard to repeat its 2009 impressive show apparently
as a price for bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Prominent among the 118
candidates in Bihar were LJP chief Paswan from Hajipur and former Bihar chief
minister and RJD candidate Rabri Devi from Saran where she is pitted against
Rajiv Pratap Rudy of BJP.

Assam
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, his wife Dolly Gogoi and their son and Koliabor
constituency Congress candidate Gaurav Gogoi cast their votes in Jorhat.
"There is no Modi magic, but Tarun Gogoi magic in Assam. Earlier, I had
said we will win ten seats, but now I am sure the Congress will get more than
that, he told reporters after casting his vote. Speaking in the same vein,
Tripura Chief Minister and CPI-M politburo member Manik Sarkar said "In
reality there is no Modi wave in the country. It is actually the creation of the
corporate media." Four persons, including a woman, demanding to cast their
vote early at a voting centre in Sarupathar Silonijan area of Kaliabor
constituency in Assam, received minor injuries in a fracas with CRPF personnel,
police sources said.

The state
election office web cast the election process at each of the polling stations.
For the first time in the northeast region, all polling booths in the state
were declared smoking-free. In Agartala, Chief Electoral Officer, Ashutosh
Jindal told reporters that the polls were incident free and barring a few
complaints, EVMs functioned well and in case of minor problems they were either
changed or repaired. The next phase of the LS polls in Assam would be held on
April 12 for three Lok Sabha seats of Karimganj (SC), Silchar and Autonomous
District (ST). Polling for the East Tripura (ST Reserve) seat would be held on
the same day. There were two LS seats in the state.

2) Drama
in Amethi, high turnout mark round 8 of LS elections:

Voters in
seven states - led by a record-breaking West Bengal and Seemandhra - raked up
impressive numbers as the penultimate round of the Lok Sabha elections
concluded on Wednesday.Millions of voters across 64 constituencies formed
serpentine queues to elect their representatives from among 897 candidates in
the fray.

West
Bengal improved its 2009 voting percentage in the six seats which went to the
polls on Wednesday, reaching 81%. In 2009, the same six seats had returned a
figure of 78%.Amethi, the most watched of the 64 seats that voted in Phase 8 of
the elections, witnessed high drama as sitting MP Rahul Gandhi was greeted with
slogans of 'Har Har Modi', got into a verbal scrap with a voter and was less
than pleased after seeing a "lotus election symbol on a black board"
at one polling booth.

That
wasn't all. The BJP also accused the Congress vice-president of violating
election rules by entering the voting compartment of a booth while his sister
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's aide, Priti Sahai, was asked to leave Amethi following
a heated argument with BJP candidate Smriti Irani. Irani claimed Sahai didn't
have the authority to be there and the district magistrate asked Sahai to
leave.

The
Gandhi family bastion saw 55.56% of the electorate come out to vote - almost
10% higher than in 2009. This was the trend overall as turnouts in all seven
states going to polls went past 2009 figures. The voting percentage for the 502
Lok Sabha seats covered in eight rounds thus far stands at 66.27%, a big
improvement from 57.94% in 2009. If the trend continues in the final phase on
May 12, it would be the highest ever polling India has seen in a general
elections - breaking the 64% record set in 1984-85.

A
photograph of Rahul standing in a voting compartment with a voter was uploaded
by AAP, which demanded action against him. It was one of 60 complaints filed by
AAP regarding polls in Amethi and most were found to be false by the EC.But
deputy election commission Vinod Zutshi said entering a voting compartment was
a violation of election rules and a complaint in this regard would be
examined.The Congress, in turn, accused Irani of breaking the rules by
campaigning inside a polling station. She left soon after the EC intervened.

On his
tour of polling booths, Rahul was asked aggressively by a youth in a saffron
scarf, "What is the point of coming to the village on polling day after 10
years?" To this, Rahul retorted, "Go and work for the BJP,"
sensing the man was leading a group of locals working for the saffron party.
The group started shouting 'Har Har Modi' and continued to do so till the
Congress vice-president left.Rahul also said he would draw the attention of the
EC to the lotus drawing, saying display of the BJP's election symbol was a
violation of the model code of conduct.While militancy-hit areas like Kupwara,
Handwara and Sonawari and frontier areas like Uri and Tangdar saw brisk
polling, Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's shadow hung over parts of
Baramulla, especially the apple town of Sopore. Also the home town of hardline
separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Sopore registered a mere 1% polling.

This
phase will mark the completion of more than 92% of voting in the Indian
elections - that is 502 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats -- which will enter the home
stretch leading up to the final phase of polling on May 12 in Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar and West Bengal.

3) Goa: 1
dead, 4 injured in explosion:

One
person was killed and four children were among the injured in a blast near
Madgaon town, 40 km from Panaji, this afternoon, a top police official
said.Deputy Inspector General of Police O P Mishra confirmed that 1 person had
died and two others were seriously injured in the blast. "Police have
rushed to the spot and the cause of the blast is not known. The details will
emerge only in the evening," he added.The man who was killed was the one
carrying the explosives.T N Mohan, Director General of Police told Rediff.com
that the deceased a migrant labour had arrived home earlier on Thursday evening
with the explosives on him.The explosion killed him instantly. His family
members too were injured, which included his children.The police say that they
are looking for more information on the migrant labour.The Goa police suspect
the use of gelatine sticks in the blast.A bomb disposal squad was sent to the
spot and the area had been cordoned off, sources said.The blast in Madgaon,
which has several industries, occurred at a place where workers reside.

The use
of gelatine sticks here is normally used for industrial purposes. But the Goa
police want to be doubly sure this timeThey had busted a major terror plot in
December 2013. The police had recovered 86 bags of explosives, 500 detonators
and several bags of the safety fuse coil used to make bombs.The police had
apprehended Moideen Kunnhi a resident of Puttur in connection with case. It was
alleged that this man from Karnataka had plans of undertaking an attack and
hence was in the possession of these explosives.The matter had come up for
hearing two days ago and the court had rejected his bail plea.

4) Modi
attacks EC, takes out roadshow in Varanasi:

Narendra
Modi Thursday launched an all-out war on the Election Commission accusing it of
working "under pressure" and showing bias against him and took out a
roadshow defying prohibitory orders over the denial of permission for him to
hold a rally in Varanasi.

On a day,
Modi, who is contesting from Varanasi, and other top BJP guns traded heavy
fire, the Election Commission called a special press conference to reject
accusations of bias and made it clear that it was "not afraid of anyone,
any political party or any entity" in doing its job.Capping an acrimonious
day, Modi landed at the Banaras Hindu University campus helipad, near the venue
of the party protests, and held an undeclared
5 km roadshow to the main BJP election office in Sigra, where a large number
police and Rapid Action Force personnel were deployed.

All along
the route, he was greeted by saffron-cap wearing supporters, who kept on
chanting 'Modi, Modi, Modi' as the cavalcade made a slow progress to the venue of
a meeting where he held closed-door discussions with senior leaders, workers
and intellectuals.Additional District Magistrate (City) M C Singh said
prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Cr PC have been imposed in the city.

Right
from the morning, the BJP brass, including Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah, attacked
the Commission by holding protests outside the Banaras Hindu University and
near the Commission's headquarters in Delhi demanding the removal of Pranjal
Yadav, Varanasi Returning Officer for his "partisan
approach"."It is unfortunate 5that the EC is not concerned about the
institution's neutrality. That is why
our 'karyakartas' (workers) have to embark on a satyagraha," he wrote on
Twitter before embarking on a day-long campaigning in Eastern Uttar Pradesh.He
continued his criticism of the EC in the meetings. Addressing a rally on the
outskirts of Varanasi, he escalated his attack saying the Commission was
working "under pressure" but did not elaborate."The Election
Commission should do introspection. I don't know under whose pressure they are
working. My speech is not so important because people will get my message even
through my silence," Modi said in an apparent reference to the denial of
permission to address a meeting in Beniabagh, said to be a communally-sensitive
spot in the city.The BJP had applied for an alternative site but later spurned
the permissions given to it hold a rally in another place. But the party
insisted on holding it only in Beniabagh and turned all its guns on the EC.

Modi told
the Congress that people have decided to defeat the party and "EC cannot
make you win".On the security reasons cited for denial of permission, he
said the government need not worry about his security as he was ready to die
for his country."Still, it is an attack on my democratic rights. Should I
not get rights that every other candidate is entitled to get. I have been
denied permission to meet mother Ganga too," he said, while promising to
come back for Ganga pujan soon.He claimed he was being targeted for last 14
years and even Central Bureau of Investigation has been left after him.

Top
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders including Arun Jaitley held protests against the
Election Commission and the returning officer who had denied permission to
Narendra Modi for holding a public meeting at a venue of his choice in
Varanasi.

Along
with Amit Shah and Ananth Kumar, Jaitley sat on dharna at the gate of the
Banaras Hindu University attacking the alleged partisan attitude of Returning
Officer Pranjal Yadav and demanded his removal.

5) Who
tried to kill Ramesh Agrawal, the activist and winner of the prestigious
Goldman Environment Prize?:

Activist
Ramesh Agrawal, 56, is among the six people who will be awarded the prestigious
Goldman Environment Prize. However, two years after he was shot at immediately
after he managed to stop Jindal Steel and Power Limited's coal mining project
in Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh, the police and courts have been unable to
unravel the bigger conspiracy behind the attack.

The
Chhattisgarh police have filed a charge sheet in the case in which seven
people, including a Jindal employee, a retired army brigadier, KK Chopra and
his associate SN Panigrahi, who run a security agency, Superior Fire and
Security Service, which provides security for Jindal Steel and Power Limited in
Raigarh, have been named. The main attacker, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, is
still absconding. Chopra and Panigrahi are out on bail while the Jindals have
repeatedly denied all allegations against the company.

Local
activists and Agrawal alleged that the attack was carried out at the behest of
Naveen Jindal in 2012. Agrawal alleged that Jindal is influencing the case
because of which the larger conspiracy behind the attack is not being
unraveled.

Agrawal,
who is currently in San Francisco for the award ceremony, had managed to stall
the multi-million mining project of Jindal Steel and Power Limited, citing
lacunae in environmental clearances and alleged farce public hearings,
mandatory for such projects. Before that, Agrawal was incarcerated for two
months in 2010 when Jindal filed a defamation case, alleging that Agrawal
defamed the company during his public meeting with the villagers.

The
attackers shot Agrawal in his groin and thigh in 2012. Two years later, he
still has a steel rod installed in his femur and a cane to support him while
walking.

“The
local police is trying to dilute the case even in court so that the witnesses
and accused do not point at Naveen Jindal on whose instance the attack was
carried out. The main conspirator is still absconding and witnesses record
statements sluggishly. Jindal is trying hard to ensure that people even
remotely associated with him are not indicted in the case,” alleged Rajesh
Tripathi, another activist from Raigarh, who is fighting for the rights of
tribals and protection of environment.

The
Goldman annual prize honours outstanding grassroots environmentalists who have
made sustained and significant efforts, even at great personal risk, to protect
and enhance the natural environment. The individual cash prize is $175,000.
Agrawal won the prize along with five other activists across the globe.

In a jolt
to Mamta Banerjee-government in West Bengal, the Supreme Court today ordered
CBI inquiry into the multi-crore Saradha scam and similar cases in the state.
The court also asked the CBI to investigate chit fund-related scam cases in
Orissa and other states including Tripura and Assam.A bench led by Justice T S
Thakur said that the aspects of inter-state ramifications and the larger
conspiracy angle required an in- depth probe by the premier investigative
agency.The bench asked the CBI to carry out further investigation wherever
required. It directed the state agencies to assist the CBI in its probe.It said
regulators in the state governments failed to check the spread of the scam.In
case of West Bengal, the SC was hearing two PILs – one filed by advocates
Pratim Kumar Singha Ray and Abu Abbasuddin, and another by advocate Subrata
Chattoraj, seeking a CBI enquiry into the scam, which is being opposed by the
state. The TMC government had alleged “political motivation” behind the demand.

West
Bengal had told the court that there was no need for a CBI probe as an ongoing
probe by a special investigation team had made substantial progress. A division
bench of Calcutta High Court had said last year there was no need for a CBI
probe into the Saradha case.

Social
activist Alok Jena filed a similar plea for CBI inquiry in Orissa. At the fag
end of the hearing, Orissa government had conceded that the court may direct
CBI inquiry in view of the sweep of the scam beyond the state.The Indian
Express had first reported that the scale of the scam was much larger in
Orissa.163 chit fund firms have collected around Rs 4,600 crore by defrauding
the people in Orissa whereas the chit fund scam in West Bengal is estimated at
Rs 2,460 crore. Moreover, at least 10 lakh families, mostly belonging to the
low-income group, have been affected by the scam in Orissa.The court had last month
reserved its judgement on the separate PILs.

Mamata
Banerjee’s party has been under immense pressure as some of the TMC leaders
have come under the scanner of Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently for their
alleged links with Saradha. ED, which is probing the matter, has arrested
Saradha promoter Sudipta Sen’s second wife and son for alleged money laundering
. Sen and suspended Trinamool MP Kunal Ghosh are already behind the bars in
connection with the scam.

Political 3D Cartoon Of This Week: Created By Me (Manash Kundu)

Sports News
This week:

1) IPL
2014: Virender Sehwag praises Glenn Maxwell; says the Australian is more
destructive than Gayle and himself:

India’s
most destructive opening batsman Virender Sehwag admits that his IPL teammate
Glenn Maxwell is more destructive than him or even Royal Challengers
Bangalore’s mighty Chris Gayle. Australian cricketer Glenn Maxwell has been
giving nightmares to bowlers since the beginning of this season of the IPL.
With a strike rate of 203.27, Maxwell is termed as the most feared batsman of
this edition of IPL.

When
asked if Maxwell reminded him of himself, the 35-year-old Sehwag said: “No, no.
I was not that destructive. I was a bit, but not that much.”

On being
asked about what he likes best about Maxwell’s batting, Sehwag said: “I don’t
think he is worried about his game; he’s more worried about golf and practices
more golf than cricket. He just goes out there in the middle, gives his 100 per
cent out there and comes back happily with whatever he gets.”

West
Indies’ Gayle has one of the biggest hitters of the ball in previous seasons of
the IPL. Due to a hamstring injury, he could not play many matches in this
season so far. When asked if Maxwell is more dangerous than Gayle, Sehwag said:
“I think Maxwell. He and Miller. If the two of them going, it becomes very
difficult for the bowling side because if one misses a ball, the other makes up
for it with a six.”

On being
asked about his own performance, Sehwag reportedly said to IPL’s official
website: “The best is yet to come. I am
striking the ball well and would like to continue to contribute to the team. I
have been scoring 20s and 30s, but now it is time to score like the way Maxwell
has been doing. Hopefully, in the coming games I will score big.”

Sehwag
went on to praise Maxwell even more:
“The kind of form he is in, it is so difficult to stop him. Nothing
matters to him – the bowlers or the fielders or the boundary. I felt like he
was playing book cricket and every time he opened a page, it was four or six.
It has been great to watch him bat.” he said.

Meanwhile,
Chennai Super Kings’ skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni also praised Maxwell’s
batting after losing the match against Kings XI Punjab on Wednesday. “Maxwell
batted exceptionally well and he was supported by the other batsmen as well.
You need some serious talent to hit those sixes one after the other. He is
someone who is very different, like Sehwag or Tendulkar and he is batting at
his best,” Dhoni said.

When
man-of-the-match Maxwell was asked to comment on his batting, he said: “Pitch
was lovely, coming on quite well. The spinners held up a little and we got away
quickly. We (him and Miller) love batting together, we talking about it a lot
and it was fun to have a big partnership together and hit a few out of the
park.”

“Practice
it and keep trying to expand my game and try and hit the ball to different
parts of the ground. Keep trying to do what I’m doing and we’re winning as
well. We didn’t have an idea in mind, thought the pitch would get better in the
second innings but once we went there we saw how good it was and we just kept
going,” he concluded.

2)
Ronaldinho, Kaka, Robinho off Brazil WCup roster:

Ronaldinho,
Kaka and Robinho were left off Brazil's World Cup roster by coach Luiz Felipe
Scolari, who selected just five players who went to the 2010 tournament with
the Selecao.Goalkeeper Julio Cesar; defenders Thiago Silva, Dani Alves and
Maicon; and midfielder Ramires were the only returnees from the tournament four
years ago on the 23-man roster announced Wednesday. Fred, a forward on the 2006
World Cup roster, was selected after missing the 2010 tournament.

"I
don't think this lack of World Cup experience will play a big part,"
Scolari said. "Our players have been gaining experience in their leagues
in Europe, and I don't think they will be affected by this too much, although
in certain World Cup situations, having that experience would be important. But
I fully trust these players."

There
were no major surprise picks in Brazil's group, which includes 16 players who
were on the roster for last year's Confederations Cup, a warmup tournament in
which the Selecao beat Spain 3-0 in the final. The team includes young stars
such as Neymar and Oscar.

"My
childhood dream came true," Neymar said on Instagram. "Today was one
of the most anticipated days of my life. It's time to represent the entire
country. I'm completely moved, anxious and nervous. I want it to arrive
soon."Also among the bypassed were Lucas Leiva, Lucas Moura and Felipe
Luis.

"We
know that not everybody will agree with all the names. It's normal,"
Scolari said. "But now that we have the 23 players, we would like to ask
that our fans support all of them, so together we can focus on our goal of
winning the World Cup."The roster includes six players from teams in England,
four from Brazil, three each from Italy and Spain, two apiece from France and
Germany, and one each from Major League Soccer, Russia and Ukraine.

The
announcement at a traditional concert house in Rio de Janeiro was telecast live
and attended by 870 reporters, according to the governing body of Brazilian
soccer.

Seeking a
record sixth World Cup title, Brazil has won 13 of its last 14 games. Its
starting lineup is likely to have Julio Cesar in goal; Dani Alves at right
back; Thiago Silva and David Luiz in central defense; Marcelo at left back;
Paulinho and Luiz Gustavo in defensive midfield; and Oscar in attacking
midfield; and Neymar, Hulk and Fred up front.

Brazil
plays Croatia in the World Cup opener on June 12, then faces Mexico five days
later and Cameroon on June 23.

3) City on
verge of title after Dzeko double:

Manchester City moved to the brink of the
Premier League title with an emphatic 4-0 win over Aston Villa on Wednesday as
Edin Dzeko scored twice to leave them needing just a point from the final game
of the season.

Dzeko's
double midway through the second half relieved the pressure that had gripped
the Etihad Stadium and late strikes by Stevan Jovetic and Yaya Toure, his 20th
of the season, secured a comfortable victory.City, who brought up 100 league
goals for the campaign, realistically need just a point from Sunday's home game
against West Ham United to win their second league title in three years.Manuel
Pellegrini's side moved two points clear of Liverpool at the top of the table
but, with a superior goal difference of 13, a draw would be enough for City to
be crowned champions while Chelsea's title hopes are over.

At the
other end of the standings, Sunderland guaranteed their Premier League survival
when goals by Jack Colback and Fabio Borini sealed a 2-0 win over West Bromwich
Albion which effectively ended Norwich City's hopes of remaining in the top
flight.With Sunderland moving to 38 points and West Brom one place above the
relegation zone on 36, Norwich are three points further adrift with a vastly
inferior goal difference.Within seconds of the kickoff at the Etihad Stadium,
it became apparent that Villa would look to stifle and frustrate rather than go
toe-to-toe with their talent-packed opponents.With all 11 men consistently
withdrawn behind the ball, the visitors set out to catch City on the break, but
they rarely made it out of their own half as the title challengers launched
wave after wave of attacks.

Praveen
Kumar has made a return to IPL.Indian medium pacer Praveen Kumar has joined
Mumbai Indians in place of injured Zaheer Khan for IPL 7. Praveen wasn’t picked
in this year’s IPL auctions, but joins the Mumbai squad after Zaheer Khan was
ruled out of the rest of the IPL due to shoulder injury.Praveen, fondly known
as PK, last played for India in the lone T20 international against South Africa
in 2012. He was part of Royal Challengers Bangalore for first three seasons,
before Kings XI Punjab picked him up in 2011. He was the leader of Kings XI
bowling attack but injuries resulted in many unwanted breaks for the swing
bowler who went unsold in IPL 2014 Auctions.

“IPL is a
great tournament and it would have given me the opportunity to make a comeback.
I was disappointed, but I am prepared to work hard again,” Praveen had made his
disappointment clear after getting the IPL snub earlier this year.With Lasith
Malinga soon to join the national side in UK, and Zaheer Khan injured, the
responsibility of Mumbai’s attack is going to lie on the experienced Praveen
Kumar.

5) Li Na,
Serena Williams reach Madrid quarterfinals:

Australian
Open champion Li Na advanced to the Madrid Open quarterfinals coming back from
a set down, while two-time defending champion Serena Williams won more
routinely on Thursday.After a poor opening set, the second-ranked Li overcame a
slew of unforced errors and a bothersome toe problem to beat Sloane Stephens of
the United States 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 on the clay at the Magic Box tennis center.

"After
the first set I was like, 'calm down,'" said Li, who needed two hours to
pull out the win. "I say, 'OK, I cannot only think about what happened for
the game, you have to look forward otherwise you cannot make it.'"Williams
earned her 650th career victory with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Carla Suarez Navarro,
who couldn't carry over the success of winning her first career title in
Portugal on Saturday to the Spanish capital.

Williams,
in pursuit of her 60th title, hit 27 winners to her Spanish opponent's five,
while securing seven break points in the sun."She made me work for every
point and it wasn't an easy win," the top-ranked American said. "She
just won last week, so she is definitely not an easy player to
play."Williams goes on to play 2011 champion Petra Kvitova after the
fifth-seeded Czech beat countrywoman Lucie Safarova 6-4, 6-3.

Book Of This Week:Rabindranath Tagoreα (Bengali: রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941), My Blog Link on Rabindranath Tagore : http://manashsubhaditya.blogspot.in/2012/02/rabindranath-tagore-graphical.htmlComic On The Life of Rabindranath Tagore : http://manashsubhaditya.blogspot.in/2012/05/rabindranath-tagore-life-of-great-poet.htmlGurudev,was an Indian-Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse" he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature. In translation his poetry was viewed as spiritual and mercurial; his seemingly mesmeric personality, flowing hair, and other-worldly dress earned him a prophet-like reputation in the West. His "elegant prose and magical poetry" remain largely unknown outside Bengal.A Pirali Brahmin from Calcutta, Tagore wrote poetry as an eight-year-old. At age sixteen, he cheekily released his first substantial poems under the pseudonym Bhānusi ("Sun Lion"), which were seized upon by literary authorities as long-lost classics. He graduated to his first short stories and dramas—and the aegis of his birth name—by 1877. As a humanist, universalist internationalist, and strident anti-nationalist he denounced the Raj and advocated for independence from Britain. As an exponent of the Bengal Renaissance he advanced a vast canon that comprised paintings, sketches and doodles, hundreds of texts, and some two thousand songs; his legacy endures also in the institution he founded, Visva-Bharati University.Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: the Republic of India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla.My Blog Link on Rabindranath Tagore : http://manashsubhaditya.blogspot.in/2012/02/rabindranath-tagore-graphical.html

WorksKnown mostly for his poetry, Tagore wrote novels, essays, short stories, travelogues, dramas, and thousands of songs. Of Tagore's prose, his short stories are perhaps most highly regarded; he is indeed credited with originating the Bengali-language version of the genre. His works are frequently noted for their rhythmic, optimistic, and lyrical nature. Such stories mostly borrow from deceptively simple subject matter: commoners. Tagore's non-fiction grappled with history, linguistics, and spirituality. He wrote autobiographies. His travelogues, essays, and lectures were compiled into several volumes, including Europe Jatrir Patro (Letters from Europe) and Manusher Dhormo (The Religion of Man). His brief chat with Einstein, "Note on the Nature of Reality", is included as an appendix to the latter. On the occasion of Tagore's 150th birthday an anthology (titled Kalanukromik Rabindra Rachanabali) of the total body of his works is currently being published in Bengali in chronological order. This includes all versions of each work and fills about eighty volumes. In 2011, Harvard University Press collaborated with Visva-Bharati University to publish The Essential Tagore, the largest anthology of Tagore's works available in English; it was edited by Fakrul Alam and Radha Chakravarthy and marks the 150th anniversary of Tagore’s birth.